The Several Lives of Orphan Jack — Sarah Ellis

For Jack, life is tough at the Opportunities School for Orphans and Foundlings, avoiding trouble with the wrathful Schoolmaster Bane and Edwin, the school basher. But when he turns twelve, trouble finds him. Apprenticed to a bookkeeper, he believes he has the job of his dreams. He loves the idea of taking care of books. What could be better for a boy whose most treasured possession is a grubby, torn dictionary that he received from the Benevolent Ladies Auxiliary one year for Christmas? But when Jack learns that bookkeeping does not involve keeping books safe, he realizes he cannot stay. Traveling to the market town of Aberbog, the resourceful boy becomes an ideas peddler, selling whims, concepts, plans, opinions, impressions, notions, and fancies, eventually winning the town's heart. Jack must now decide whether to settle down or continue his hardscrabble life on the road.